my marine
by stella brillare
Summary: Nick Duval is a Marine at basic training. His boyfriend, Jeff Sterling, is an up-in-coming writer. Follow the series of letter the two exchange during his time at boot camp.


Nick,

As a writer, sometimes we all hit slumps. You're not a writer, you've told me that time and time again, so I don't know if you'd understand this, but I'm going to explain it to you anyway. Sometimes I can't think of what to write for the next section of my novel. As you can tell, I'm a planner writer. I've got character maps and outlines and things sprawled all over the apartment when you aren't here, (and even sometimes when you are as you knew before you left). But no matter how much planning I hit, I can't find the words that I'm looking for. I need words that just seem to flow on the page, that speak the thoughts that my mind just couldn't grasp before then. And, when I can't find them, it's a bit of a stressful time.

So, I'm writing you these letters with random prompts that I find on the internet so that I can maybe find some sort of spark in inspiration from reminiscing about our glorious relationship. So, here it goes.

The first prompt reads: "_Think about an event in your life that you will always remember. Write a story about what happened_."

I didn't even have to think about that one. An even that I'll always remember was when you first told me that you loved me. And when I first told you the same. You were there, but I'm going to retell the story again. Here's the setting, since I don't really know how to get a good lead in without describing it first:

We're at the airport, you've got your backpack and uniform, your parents are there and your little sister. You're about to leave for basic training.

"_You'll call me, right, Nick?" The brunette girl, who even at five years my junior is still almost as tall as I, asks. The tears could be seen in her eyes, the florescent lights are twinkling off the coat that's surrounding her unforgettable blue. _

"_Whenever I get the chance, Nat. I'll call all of you," Just hearing the words, even though I knew them to be true long ago, when I was told he'd be leaving, bring a smile to my tear stained face. Natalie, the girl from before, engulfs Nick in a hug, one of the tightest and most passionate one that I have ever seen before. Her parents soon join in, and I'm left standing awkwardly outside on an adorable family moment._

_My hands are in the pockets of the black jacket that he gave me on the date we went on on our year anniversary. My mind wanders back to that day, how wonderful it was, and how upsetting the news that he had joined the Marines was. _

_I let an upset sigh escape my drying lips and look across the few feet between us to see his family parting, and I faintly hear his father whisper something to his daughter, about how it's only three months. As he steps closer to me, the grip on his backpack seemingly tighter than before. He's trembling, I can see it even from the distance I was at._

_I couldn't help myself, I threw my arms around his neck, just wanting one last time to be held by him. To hold him, for this last farewell before he's off to bigger and better things, things Ohio couldn't offer him. "Oh, Jeff." I hear him whisper, his voice breaking._

_And that, the breaking voice, almost breaks my heart. I had only seen my boyfriend cry three times, and every time it killed me. Hell, he could have cried in front of me a thousand times and it would still kill me each time, because I loved him and seeing him hurt would have killed me no matter how often it happened. _

"_Nicky.." I whisper, so quietly that no emotion could possibly be heard. "Be careful?" I ask, slightly louder, the concern for him was probably far clearer than I could ever intend for it to be. "I wouldn't want to loose you just in basic training."_

_He chuckles, and it's the first time that I've worn a genuine smile on my face all morning. And his reply just makes that smile grow even more. "Of course, sweetheart, just because you asked."_

"_Good. I'd hate to not have a boyfriend anymore." It's the best thing I could think to say in the short amount of time that I was allotted a reply. If he had given me days to think of something, I probably would have said something a thousand times better. _

_There's a pregnant pause, where we're just looking at each other. I can't speak for him, but, I was studying his face at that moment. Remembering the details, exactly where each unshed tear rests in his beautiful eyes, the exact way his hair is falling over his face, and the nervous smile he was sporting. He had never looked more attractive than he did in that moment. He was so brave, so amazing, and he was mine. My Handsome Marine._

_He looks at his watch, his flight starts boarding soon, and he still needs to go through security. As we agree to part ways (we had done all our goodbyes the day before, there's still the whole PDA dispute going on and we didn't want to ruin our moment with upsetting talking around us), he calls my name. "Hey, Jeff?"_

_The confusion, I'm sure, was clear on my face as I turn back to face him. He takes the four steps that I had walked away, and his eyes lock with mine. Taking a deep breath, I almost don't believe the words he speaks."I love you." _

_But, either if I was hearing things or not, I smile and run my hand alongside his cheek before embracing him once more, whispering my reply into his soft brown hair, I feel infinite."Nick, I love you, more than words could say."_

I don't really feel like reliving watching you walk away, Nick, since you do know the story.

Can I just say I miss you more than anything in the world? I miss you more than I miss eating your delicious cookies. I just can't seem to get the recipe right, neither can your sister (oh, by the way, she's actually really awesome for a 13 year old. And she's got a set of lungs I can't seem to even describe).

Two more months until you're back home. Just two more months, I've been outing. That's eight weeks; about 62 days. This month seems to have been dragging on, and the fact that I've been in a writers block for the last week doesn't help.

Anyway, I guess I should go do something productive. Like, clean or shower or something.

Love,

Jeff.

* * *

**Hello, people. I don't know if I should be starting a fanfic on the 24th of October, since I'm going to be doing NaNoWriMo for the first year this year, but here I am.**

**This story is just something I started writing to make me feel better, and it's somewhat AU. Here's the basic plot if you didn't catch on.**

**Nick is a Marine at basic training, and Jeff is an up-in-coming author. A series of letters between the two.**

**Enjoy!(:**


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